CFL Week 18 picks, rankings

Mike Beamish, Vancouver Sun10.23.2013

Rival running backs Kory Sheets (above) of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Jon Cornish of the Calgary Stampeders will figure in this weekend's most anticipated game between the CFL's top two teams on Saturday.

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Handicapping this week’s slate of games in the Canadian Football League and who ranks where around the circuit:

• THURSDAY:

Winnipeg at Toronto, 4:30 p.m. Pacific, TSN

The Blue Bombers are raising ticket prices in five of seven seating categories for 2014, adding insult to an already injurious season in which the Bombers have won just a single game at home. COO Jim Bell told the Winnipeg Free Press that the cost of doing business is going up, ignoring protests from PISTOFF (People For The Insensitive Treatment of Football Fans).

While Thursday’s game doesn’t mean much for the 3-13 Bombers, the 10-6 Argos can clinch first place in the East with a victory. Toronto doesn’t figure to kack out on the assignment. Running back Chad Kackert is healthy again after a season in which he has been in out and of the lineup with various ailments. His injuries have resulted in the Argos tumbling to the fewest rushing yards in the CFL (an average of 82.6 per game).

Pick: Argonauts.

• FRIDAY:

Edmonton at B.C., 7 p.m. Pacific, TSN

Buck Pierce and Thomas DeMarco appear to be getting almost equal reps in practice, but it’s DeMarco who will get the starting assignment for the sixth straight time. Despite throwing four interceptions and having two more nullified because of penalties last Saturday against the Roughriders, DeMarco remains the favoured son among the coaching staff, though B.C. clearly is not operating from a position of strength at the quarterback position.

Indeed, after throwing for three TDs (and no picks) in his first two starts, DeMarco has tossed eight interceptions in his past three games, all losses. He is 55-of-105 for 734 yards over that span, in which his passer rating is a lowly 59.0.

While he’s up and throwing, Travis Lulay’s return faces a time crunch. If he’s not ready to play by Nov. 1, negative perceptions of the Lions’ playoff chances will continue to resonate.

Pick: Lions.

• SATURDAY:

Montreal at Hamilton 10 a.m. Pacific, TSN

With Anthony Calvillo’s return ruled out this year because of post-concussion symptoms, the Alouettes are desperate to find the Next One.

Heisman Trophy winner (2006) Troy Smith was the answer at quarterback last week against the Tiger-Cats. But let’s not buy into the hype just yet. He’s a six-year NFL journeyman whose accomplishments have never caught up to his potential. Nearly 30, he has accepted the reality that the NFL dream is over for him, however, which at least places Smith on solid footing.

After losing decisively, 35-5, to Smith and the Alouettes last time, who knows what’s in store from the Ticats? Fickle, erratic, confounding is their nature — much like the man who leads them, quarterback Henry Burris. One week, Good Henry is a MOP candidate who puts the Ticats at the fringes of Grey Cup discussion. The next, Bad Henry’s a momentum-killer.

Pick: Alouettes.

Saskatchewan at Calgary, 4 p.m. Pacific, TSN

An intriguing subplot to Week 18’s most anticipated game is the rivalry between the CFL’s No. 1 and No. 2 rushers — the Stamps’ Jon Cornish and the Roughriders’ Kory Sheets. Both are adept at running for daylight and running at the mouth, although Cornish, as a corporate pitch man for Humpty’s restaurants, seems to have toned down his act this year while he chases his second straight rushing crown.

Sheets remains singularly unimpressed. He dismisses all of those under the thrall of Cornish as the league’s most outstanding player. This is an ideal stage on which to prove it. And the Roughriders will need another great performance from Sheets, similar to last Saturday, when he had 148 rushing yards against the Lions. The Roughriders are a one-dimensional team without him. And the Stamps’ Kevin Glenn trumps Darian Durant when it comes to consistency at quarterback.

Pick: Stampeders.

Last week: 2-2.

This season: 38-26.

• CFL RANKINGS:

1. Stampeders: John Hufnagel is the front-runner for both coach and executive of the year as the Stamps seamlessly replace injured starters without missing a beat.

2. Roughriders: The Lions couldn’t stop Jon Cornish and only had slightly better luck with Kory Sheets, the straw who stirs the drink of the Roughriders’ offence.

3. Argonauts: Giving up too many yards on the ground, not picking up enough at their end. Argos in no rush to excite anybody about a Grey Cup repeat.

4. Alouettes: Troy Smith’s debut as a starting quarterback was a winning one, but streaking meteors do flash and fade as quickly as they appear in the CFL.

5. Tiger-Cats: One step forward, one step back. Ticats’ season is like the game of life: They keep trying, but never seem to get ahead.

6. Lions: If only the Lions could deliver on what they promise. Vast expectations have amounted to diddly squat in the stretch run so far.

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CFL Week 18 picks, rankings

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